Siren's Litany
by Lady Nightshade
Summary: There is a small bar in a small town. The villagers are friendly people and will welcome you with kind smiles, a warm bed, and a good meal. Every Monday and Friday if you are lucky you will hear the Siren sing her Whisky Lullaby.


Siren's Litany  
  
Author's Notes: I was listening to this song on the way home from the mall one day when this came on; and this idea popped into my head. I was debating on making this an original or a fanfiction. For now it will be a fanfic and if people like it enough I will probably turn it into a original but for now please enjoy my first Saiyuki fic.  
  
"Whiskey Lullaby" is owned by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss  
  
The sun was starting to set and Sanzo and the others were starting to feel the fatigue of being in a jeep all day. They hadn't come across any trouble from Kougaiji or his assassins for a few days; which was really odd and Sanzo wondered if the Demon Prince was planning something or not.   
  
"Sanzo," said Goku, shoving his face in between Sanzo and Hakkai's.  
  
"Hn," grunted Sanzo, taking a drag of his cigarette.   
  
"Are we going to stop at the next town for the night?"  
  
"We probably should," said Hakkai, his eyes trained on the road. "We need more supplies."  
  
"And I need some more cigarettes," said Goyjo from the back, joining in the conversation his head hovering over Goku's.  
  
"I guess that means we are stopping then," said Sanzo.  
  
"Look, there is a town right there!" shouted Goku, happily pointing straight ahead of them.   
  
Without saying anything Hakkai pulled into the town and stopped; the four travelers got out of the jeep which immediately transformed into the little white dragon, Hakuryu. The townspeople looked at the new group curiously whispering about them, especially the females who couldn't stop eyeing the three older males. While Goyjo was enjoying the attention, Hakkai was trying to ignore them, and Sanzo was just ignoring them completely while he continued to take the final drags of his cigarette; Goku was oblivious to the whole thing and was to busy trying to sniff out the nearest available food source.   
  
"There!" he shouted pointing in the direction of an inn. "Let's go there!"  
  
"Excuse me," said Hakkai to one of the giggling females. "Is that inn any good.  
  
"It is very good," chirped the girl smiling at the fact that she had been acknowledged. "In fact since this is Monday you will get a free performance from Arira."  
  
"Arira?" asked Goku.  
  
"Yeah," said another female. "We call her Siren because her voice is so lovely and unique. She sings every Monday and Friday since her parents died and when she as finished her song she lets two of the men buy her one drink each of whisky."   
  
"Why is that?" asked Goku, blinking his wide gold eyes curiously.   
  
"She drinks them in memory of her mother and father," said the woman giggling.   
  
"Thank you ladies," said Hakkai smiling at them. "You were most helpful."  
  
"So," said Gojyo appearing next to them. "You ladies have anything planned for the night?"  
  
The females and their giggling were starting to really annoy Sanzo and with Gojyo flirting with them things weren't getting any better.   
  
"Will you knock it off!" he shouted, smacking Gojyo upside the head with his fan.  
  
"What the hell was that for cleric?!" demanded Gojyo holding his head.  
  
"Would you stop flirting with every female you cross paths with!"  
  
"I'm sorry," said Hakkai as Sanzo and Gojyo argued in the background. "Pay them no mind they are always like this."  
  
"Hey Sanzo!" shouted Goku. "Let's go get some good now. Okay?"  
  
The girls just giggled.  
  
Later  
  
Sanzo had finished his dinner a long time ago and was currently smoking one of his cigarettes and drinking a beer taking in his surrounding area and the people within it. Gojyo was at another table flirting with the ladies, drinking and gambling away with some drunken losers. Hakkai was calmly drinking tea while being adored by females at the bar who would look at him and then giggle if he so much as glanced their way. Goku was being Goku and finishing off everyone else's male and then some, rather quickly.  
  
The door opened and everyone looked up as silence descended the room and they all watched the newcomer stride into the room, moving silently. The newcomer was female with short black hair that fell to right below her ears and was tipped in a blood red color; her eyes were a stormy blue that regarded the groups calmly as she walked by the tables and smiled at some of the more familiar faces of the townsfolk. She was wearing light brown pants, a form fitting dark green vest, and boots. In her hand she carried a guitar case, her slim wrists were covered by bands of dark brown cloth with leather cording keeping the cloth on her wrists and from her ears hung dangly silver earrings with brown and green beads and a silver feather. Nothing covered or hung from her neck and her Chinese symbol for "life" that rested on the right side of her neck was shown. Finally the bar owner an elderly male with a kind smile and wise grey eyes broke the silence to speak to the new comer.  
  
"I was wondering if you would show Arira," he commented, as if he would berate her for even being a second late.   
  
"Yeah," said the girl, nodding her apology for her lateness. "Sorry I am late I ran into some problems on the way here."  
  
"You aren't hurt are you?" asked one of the barmaids.  
  
"No, no," smiled the female gratefully, making her look younger then she actually was. "I am fine, nothing I couldn't handle. Well then, let's begin. Shall we?" The silence returned as she started to set up and Sanzo's curiosity getting the better of him waved over the bargirl that had asked the young singer if she was alright over.  
  
"Did you want me to get you anything sir?" she asked softly, coming over to him.  
  
"No," said Sanzo. "I do however, want to know what the deal with the girl is. I know that she sings every Monday and Friday for her parents and that she drinks whiskey in honor of them. But what I want to know is what happened to her parents."  
  
"Oh," said the girl slowly, not sure if she should give out that sort of information but caving in under Sanzo's intense stare. "No one really knows why but for some reason one day her parents just got into a big argument and her mother stormed out leaving her father and her behind. So she lived with her father for awhile and every now and then staying with her mother. Her father couldn't seem to stand the thought of living with her mother so he tried to drink the mother's memory away and when that didn't work he killed himself."  
  
"What happened to the mother?" asked Goku.  
  
"She killed herself a year later from grief and guilty; blaming herself for her husband's death."  
  
"I thought she hated him or else she wouldn't have left," said Goku confused.  
  
"Even though they got into an argument they still loved each other and were just to stubborn and full of pride so admit it. May they rest in peace. Is there anything else I can get you?"  
  
"No," said Sanzo waving her away.  
  
"Thank you," said Hakkai as she left.  
  
The entire bar then turned their attention to the young female on stage as she strummer the opening chords on her guitar. She opened her mouth and a beautiful sound came from her mouth as her voice began to form the words of her song. "She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette," as she sang her eyes closed and the audience watched at a man and a woman began to form like shadows of a dream before them. "She broke his heart, he spent his whole life tryin' to forget." The audience watched as the female stormed away from the male and he just stood where he was not believing what was happening. "We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time." The scene changed to the man seating at a bar drinking shot after shot of whisky. "But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind," The audience were treated to a shot of the man's bloodshot and drunk eyes. "Until the night."   
  
They watched the man at home now perhaps in his room holding a bottle of whisky and a gun. "He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger." It spanned to the bottom of the bed and they watched as the man's hand dropped to the floor letting the whisky bottle crash onto it. "And finally drank away her memory." This time the scene changed to a group of people in the bar having fun. "Life is short but this time it was bigger." They seemed to not realize what had just happened in the man's house until someone showed up at the door her eyes wide and in shock, it was the singer. "Than the strength he had to get up off his knees." The bar had gone silent and they watched the girl stumble into the room her foot steps uneven and staggered. "We found him with his face down in the pillow." The men of the town had formed a silent circle around the bed and as one grabbed hold of the male's sheets lifting it and the body into the air. "With a note that said I'll love her 'til I die." The girl that had told the bar about her father was holding a note in her hand. "And when we buried him beneath the willow." The entire town was gathered beneath the pouring rain around a willow tree with the girl her mother both dressed in black standing beside the minister watching the coffin being lowered into the ground as the sun slowly shone through as if welcoming the man to heaven. "The angels sang a whiskey lullaby." The choir in the vision began to sing a soft song and their lips moved as Arira sang the words their lips formed. "La la la la la la la, La la la la la la la. La la la la la la la, La la la la la la la.  
  
"The rumors flew but nobody knew how much she blamed herself," the scene changed to an older version of the woman seating on the same bar stool at the same bar drinking whisky. "For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath." The scene changed to the woman rinsing her mouth out with a mouthful of mouthwash. "She finally drank her pain away a little at a time." The scene changed to the woman sleeping off an entire bottle of whiskey. "But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind." The scene changed again and they saw the woman standing before the gravestone dressed in the black dress she had worn earlier, she was crying and they watched as she walked away. "Until the night." They watched her lay down on her bed wearing a long flowing white gown her black hair lying freely around her head. "She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger." They watched as she drank the last drops of the whisky from the bottle and put the gun to her head. "And finally drank away his memory." The bottle shattered onto the floor of the bedroom splintering into beautiful fragments of glass that shimmered red with blood. "Life is short but this time it was bigger." The girl from before was a few years older and running into the room only to be greeted by the site of her dead mother. "Than the strength she had to get up off her knees." The girl started to scream soundless bringing the neighbors storming into the house to see what was wrong. "We found her with her face down in the pillow." She was seating next to a woman from the village while some of the men carried the body out. "Clinging to his picture for dear life." One of the males handed the girl a bloody picture frame of her father before leaving her to be comforted by the woman. "We laid her next to him beneath the willow." The scene was the same as before this time the girl stood alone next to the reverend with the rest of the town gathered beneath the same willow as her husband the moment the coffin was covered the sun shone through warming the townsfolk. "While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby."  
  
Her voice sung the words of the silent choir. "La la la la la la la, La la la la la la la." Her fingers began to strum some chords before going on with the song. "La la la la la la la, La la la la la la la." Her fingers once more strummed the chords of the song before finishing it off. "La la la la la la la,  
  
La la la la la la la. La la la la la la laLa la la la la la la..."   
  
When the last chords had died away the bar was silent everyone taking in what they had seen and what they had heard. It seemed that even the regulars at the bar who had heard this song countless times before were having trouble digesting it.   
  
"So," said the girl, after a long enough moment of silence. "Who is buying the drinks?"  
  
"I'll buy one," volunteered Gojyo with his customary smirk on his face.   
  
"Don't you have anything better to do then to hit on females!" snapped Sanzo.   
  
"Sure I do," grinned Gojyo, giving Arira her first shot of whisky for the night. "Beating the shit outta you and monkey boy over there."  
  
"I am NOT a monkey you hormone driven freak!"  
  
"Listen you stupid monkey!" shouted Gojyo getting into attack mode against Goku.  
  
"This is fun," commented Arira, dryly as she tilted her head back and drank down the entire shot of whisky. "Are they always like this?" she asked turning to Hakkai.   
  
"Unfortunately yes," said Hakkai smiling at her. "Would you like another drink?"  
  
"Sure," said Arira smiling back. "Why not? I have to give a libation to my mother now."  
  
Hakkai gave her another shot of whisky and watched her dispose of that one in the same manner as she had the other one.   
  
"You seem to have been doing that for a long time now," said Hakkai.  
  
"Since I was fifteen," said Arira, wiping at her mouth blinking her eyes against the sudden dizzy spell that passed over her.  
  
"Are you alright?" asked Hakkai.   
  
"Yes, I am fine," said Arira, standing up before falling into a heap on the floor.  
  
The entire bar froze and gathered around the small girl who was starting to bleed rather badly from a bullet in her side.  
  
Later  
  
Once more the crowd had gathered around the willow tree at the top of the hill. This time however, no one was standing beside the reverend as the coffin was lowered into the ground. The rain poured down upon the townsfolk as the choir sang the final Whisky Lullaby for Arira and her parents. The Sanzo party watched from a higher hill in the jeep neither one speaking. Slowly as the mound of dirty began to disappear the sun started to come out and they heard soft laughter; glancing up they saw the girl's spirit with the spirits of her parents as they welcomed in her into heaven.  
  
THE END  
  
Author's Notes: Well that was my first Saiyuki fic hope you guys enjoyed it at least a little bit. Peace, love and life. 


End file.
